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Seeing individual molecules by confining light to the nanoscale
How tightly can we confine light? For many years this was thought to be on the order of the
optical wavelength, but new insights allow us to squeeze it down to nearly a single cubic
nanometre. This opens up a new regime where we can watch single molecules, and sculpt
directly on the nanoscale using light. By combining metallic nano-objects at very close
distances, we squeeze light into these tiny dimensions at resonant wavelengths whose
colour depends exquisitely on the nanoscale geometry. Below 1nm gaps, we detect the
influence of quantum mechanics in the optical signatures, at room temperature and
ambient conditions. We also show how it is possible able to track single molecules, and
discuss the implications for nano-chemistry and healthcare technologies.
Prof. Jeremy J. Baumberg FRS, directs a UK Nano-Photonics Centre at the University of Cambridge
and has extensive experience in developing optical materials structured on the nano-scale that can
be assembled in large volume. He is also Director of the Cambridge Nano Doctoral Training Centre, a
key UK site for training PhD students in interdisciplinary Nano research. Strong experience with
Hitachi, IBM, his own spin-offs Mesophotonics and Base4, as well as strong industrial engagement
give him a unique position to combine academic insight with industry application in a two-way
flow. With over 10000 citations, he is a leading innovator in Nano. This has led to awards of the
Royal Society Rumford Medal (2014), IoP Young Medal (2013), Royal Society Mullard Prize (2005),
the IoP Charles Vernon Boys Medal (2000) and the IoP Mott Lectureship (2005). He frequently talks
on NanoScience to the media, and is a strategic advisor on NanoTechnology to the UK Research
Councils. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Optical Society of America, the Institute of Physics,
and the Institute of NanoTechnology.
[see np.phy.cam.ac.uk]